Internet science-fiction publisher Jim Baen, 62, dies

Book exec saw potential in the Web to market stories.

Book exec saw potential in the Web to market stories.

Jim Baen, a founder of a science-fiction book publishing company who understood the potential for marketing the printed word on the Web, has died. He was 62.

Mr. Baen died Wednesday of complications from a stroke he suffered June 12, said David Drake, a friend. Mr. Baen was a resident of Wake Forest, N.C., home base of Baen Books.

"Jim Baen was a truly legendary figure in the world of science fiction and fantasy," said Jack Romanos, president of Simon and Schuster, which distributes Baen Books, in a statement. "Jim and his authors exerted a wide-ranging influence on the world of science fiction today."

From the time he launched his company in 1984, Mr. Baen expanded the business in then-untypical ways, using the Internet as a main tool.

Advertisement

Visitors to the Web site www.baen.com can connect to Baen's Bar, a chat room where Mr. Baen made contact with several science-fiction writers whose books he later published.

He also created Baen's Library, a link on his Web site where readers can download books electronically, some for free. Others are new works that Mr. Baen made available to paying subscribers before the books were sold in stores. He allowed readers to download texts using their choice of word processing program and was a vocal critic of texts that can only be downloaded in one format.

Mr. Baen championed a good story above intellectual ideas or great literary style, said Drake, who has had a number of works published by Baen Books. Mr. Baen also gave first-time authors a chance, more often than most other publishers.

"Jim took pleasure in finding new people and supporting them," Drake said. "He followed his own tastes; he wasn't bound by what others thought."

Mr. Baen started his career in publishing at Ace Books, known for its science-fiction paperbacks, in 1972. A year later he moved to Galaxy magazine for science fiction and rose from managing editor to editor in chief. At Galaxy he introduced columns by several popular authors, including Jerry Pournelle.

In 1980 he became editorial director of Tor Books, which publishes science fiction and fantasy. After establishing Baen Books, he published works by a number of best-selling authors, including John Ringo, David Weber and Eric Flint.

Along with science fiction, he also published some fantasy fiction.

Born in Pennsylvania near the New York border on Oct. 22, 1943, Mr. Baen started reading science-fiction magazines as a boy after finding a stash of them in a relative's attic.

He left home at 17 and lived on the streets for a time before he enlisted in the Army, "the only available alternative to starving," Drake said of Mr. Baen. He completed military service and attended City College of New York.

Mr. Baen is survived by Katherine Baen, his daughter with Toni Weisskopf, his longtime partner. He is also survived by Jessica Baen, his daughter from his marriage, which ended in divorce.